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Required Vespa Maintenance

April 29, 2016 by Scooter in the Sticks 16 Comments

Kissell Motorsports

Arriving at your local motorcycle and scooter dealership, in my case Kissell Motorsports, I can be in one of two distinctly different frames of mind – the bliss of fantasy or the anxiety of the technician’s verdict. The yin and yan of the two-wheeled life for those of us who are not committed wrench turners.

So begins the story…

Confessions of Vespa Abuse

Reflecting on my poor scooter – nameless, subjected to indecent conditions, ridden hard and put away wet – is it any wonder it doesn’t feel well? I don’t care for machines very well. My friend Paul commented over the weekend that my van is the dirtiest vehicle he’s ever been in. (He must lead a sheltered life – my van seems spotless compared to many vehicles I ridden in.)

Regardless, I confess to abusing the Vespa through neglect and indifference using it only for my own selfish, personal pleasure. In return I offer the minimum of care – fuel, lubricants, and the occasional bath. The Vespa has held up remarkably well considering nearly ten years of hard use.

Still, I approached the service department with a sense of dread.

The Verdict

With the help of the kind community of Vesparados on ModernVespa.com I had tracked down why my engine warning light was coming on under power. A quick voltage test at the battery revealed a failed voltage regulator. Echoing deep in my subconscious was a nasty voice telling me, “there’s more son, you need to spend your money on something…”.

As I thought about the cost of repairing my aging scooter I began to wonder if it would be better to buy a new one.

Madness. I know.

“Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality.”

As the Cheshire Cat said in Alice in Wonderland, I found imagining life with the Triumph Street Twin helped await the verdict on my scooter. The funny thing about imagination — it’s fickle. Before long I was riding a Triumph Scrambler, then a Ducati Scrambler. I even imagined a few miles on a URAL. It was about then I heard the call from the service desk.

One thing is for certain. When I think something needs fixed I’m usually right. And it’s usually far more than I anticipated.

My 2006 Vespa GTS 250ie is sitting quietly at Kissell Motorsports awaiting required Vespa maintenance. I was right about the voltage regulator.

And then some. But that’s a story for another day.

Mechanical Satisfaction

April 15, 2016 by Scooter in the Sticks 20 Comments

Do you derive joy or satisfaction from working on your scooter or motorcycle?

Grime and Crud

After an evening of wrench turning and and part changing the scooter is back on the road. A new battery has the scooter firing up strongly and a new sparkplug and air filter has reduced the occurrence of the engine fault light coming on. To celebrate I went for a test ride and decided to stop and spray the filth off the Vespa. Being careful to not direct any high powered streams of water into the engine or other delicate places I was able to transform a mud caked, limestone dust coated, salt encrusted scooter into a reasonable handsome machine.

Can’t say the same about my grease stained fingers. I remember now that I have latex gloves to keep my hands clean. Sitting here now, tired after a long week and some work on the scooter this evening, I can tell I’m in a glow of mechanical satisfaction. As much as I hate to admit it there is a tangible feeling of accomplishment from a few simple acts.

Strange.

Road Closed Ahead

Before I get lost in the mechanic romantic I still find riding more dazzling and rewarding than crawling around the driveway with a wrench and screwdriver. Working on the scooter and knowing I can do a few things was fun but can’t hold a candle to the test ride. Through the dark and on the way home the smile has returned.

You know the one, the big grin fueled by fun.

The mechanical satisfaction isn’t over yet — still have to change the engine and transmission oil and check the head bearings. Another day, after a nice spring ride.

Trying to be a good Boy Scout I ordered a pair of Heidenau K61 tires today from Kissell Motorsports. I’ll be needing them in a month or so.

Melting into the chair at the moment and dreaming of sleep. That’s what Friday nights have become for an old Vespa rider…

Absent-Minded Vespa Mechanic

April 14, 2016 by Scooter in the Sticks 28 Comments

Nighttime Wrenching

On Monday morning I was suited up and ready to ride to work only to find the Vespa near death when I pressed the starter button. Hard to describe the level of disappointment this old man feels when a scooter ride is snatched away. There’s some consolation in being able to report no curses or expletives emerged from my disappointed brain — just a calm push of the scooter back into the garage.

A long day at work along with evening errands kept me from investigating the problem with the Vespa. And Tuesday evening had me finishing our taxes before Uncle Sam hauled myself and the scooter away. Finally this evening I found time to have a look. Like so many things though, my estimate of available “time” was inaccurate. Or perhaps more precisely, I didn’t realize how fast I was rushing through time to get the Vespa moving again.

The differential diagnosis which was confirmed by fellow riders on the ModernVespa.com forum was either a dead battery or bad ground wire. Simple things to investigate and fix. Found the ground wire — it looked dirty and corroded so I removed it and being in a rush and not paying attention promptly dropped the bolt and washers into an abyss in the engine compartment. Predictable move for an absent-minded Vespa mechanic.

After a trip to the hardware store for replacement parts I pushed the start button and the scooter started right up. Shut the engine off and tried again and the engine barely turned. Pushed the starter button again and the engine turned over slowly and started. Barely. As I rode out of the driveway I’m thinking “bad battery”.

Into the Night with a Dead Battery

Zipped up the street and the Vespa ran fine. Didn’t want to breakdown far from home so I stayed in the neighborhood. Just up the hill from our garage I shut the engine off and let the headlight drain some energy from the battery. Hit the starter button after a few minutes and I’m back to a hard start. Once home I hooked the engine up to my AntiGravity battery and the Vespa came to life.

Get your own peace of mind regarding dead batteries — Antigravity XP-5 MINI Micro Start – Personal Battery Jump Starter & Charger – Back Up Power Supply.

So — dead battery. Hopefully.

I See a Battery in my Future

Despite being less than two years old the battery seems to be dead. Perhaps running year round in cold weather takes a toll. Others have suggested constant use of a Battery Tender shortens the life of the battery. Don’t know, don’t care. Just want to go for a ride. So tomorrow I’ll stop by Kissell Motorsports and hopefully find a new battery. And once installed I expect the engine to start.

Am I asking too much?

Antigravity Batteries

July 19, 2015 by Scooter in the Sticks 30 Comments

This post is not about the Vespa. It’s about the Honda Fit on the left side of the picture. And everything I’m about to share is my dog Lily’s fault. I happened like this…

On Thursday morning Lily, Junior and I piled into the Fit and went to the park. While there, she took a predictable dump and me, being the responsible dog owner I am, gathered up the logs in a plastic bag. Since there were no public garbage cans available for disposal I tied the bag off and put it on the floor of the Fit to dispose of at home. After some energetic tennis ball retrieval games we piled back into the car and went home.

Fast forward to Saturday morning when I get into the Honda Fit to look for my raincoat — I forgot the bag. Two days of roasting temperatures transformed the inside of the car into some sort of cosmic level fragrance center. It was bad.

Working quickly while holding my breath I get the windows down and abandon the car for later in the day.

Fast forward to Saturday evening when I go outside to close the car windows. As soon as I opened the car door and the dome light didn’t come on I knew what happened. Lily made me leave the key in the ignition in the on position all day long and killed the battery.

Bad dog.

Enter the Micro-Start Mini XP-5 from Antigravity Batteries. I bought one of these to keep with the Vespa so if I’m on the road and my battery dies I can just jump start the scooter. It’s about the size of my iPhone, comes with a nice little case that includes jumper cables and a variety phone and mobile device charger cords. For $99 I thought it was a good investment.

With a dead Honda Fit in the driveway I had a couple choices — move a lot of stuff around so I could get the van in a place where I could jump the Fit, or try out the Mini XP-5.

Took but a few seconds to plug the short jumper cables into the battery, connect it to the Fit, and turn the key. The car started right up.

Lily’s not a bad dog afterall.

This is the smallest battery made by Antigravity Batteries but it will jump start engines up to 1600ccs. The slightly larger ones will start a V8 engine a dozen times. Or recharge an iPad that many times. It’s a pretty cool piece of technology to have available should you need power.

I got mine from Revzilla.com.

Tranquility Interrupted

May 25, 2015 by Scooter in the Sticks 13 Comments

“My Vespa is dead”. That’s the message I got while sitting at the Pump Station awaiting Gordon’s arrival. A quick conversation led us both to believe the battery was dead — a victim of too little riding during the winter despite being tethered to a Battery Tender. Tranquility interrupted because of a dead battery is not the way you want to start your riding day. The call reminded me that I want to think hard about purchasing an emergency battery for the scooter.

I arrived at the scene with the little bag of tricks.

Unlike my older Vespa GTS 250 that requires a common Phillips head screwdriver to expose the battery his bright red 300 calls for a Torx bit. Like a blind squirrel finding an acorn, Gordon had one with him and had already removed the cover so we could jump start the scooter. I’ve jump started mine several times from a car battery.

Out of habit I flicked the kill switch on and off and hit the starter button. The scooter engine turned over and came to life. Gordon had one of those looks you get when you think you’ve done something stupid; I probably had the look of a magician who just pulled a fast one over the audience.

The kill switch contacts could have been dirty or the battery really is on it’s last legs. For now it was enough to have the engine running.

There’s a special camaraderie among scooter and motorcycle riders that does not extend to automobile owners — a willingness to help out when things breakdown on the road. Not just with friends, but with strangers as well.

I followed Gordon home to make sure the scooter functioned ok and to let Lily the Hammer, my wife’s Belgian Sheepdog puppy play with Gordon’s dog for awhile. Success on all counts and tranquility interrupted gave way to a fine day.